Riku's Light To Come
by Karin Starsen
Summary: Stuck in Kingdom Hearts, Riku's true feelings start dawn on him. But does she have a secret? They get back to destiny island, and are thrown suddenly into an adventure with Sora and Kairi to find Riku's 'light'. But is that really what's happening? R
1. Secrets

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing from Kingdom Hearts, or any of your other games or from Final Fantasy. **

Riku had always liked to keep secrets from his friends. He never wanted everyone to know everything about him, that's why so many people found him dark and strange. This quality about him normally scared people off. He wasn't sure why Sora and Kiari had stayed around. It is true that he had fallen for Kiari, but that was past now. He had never kept a secret like this before.

He first met her in Traverse town. He thought she was a heartless and went straight towards her, but once he got close enough he noticed that it wasn't a heartless, but a black haired, green eyed, dark clad girl. But his guess of a heartless wasn't too far off. To both of their surprise, they wouldn't leave each other alone out of pure stubbornness. But eventually they became friends.

Her name was Xoe. She was the same age as Riku and acted a lot like him. That's why Riku was so attracted to her… but he knew she held a secret from him. Something deep and dark. He had to know what it was. He let her follow him wherever she went. He kept her secret from everyone he knew, and she didn't complain about all of the evil deeds he had done… she just kept quiet, and now she is still with him in the darkness.

"Xoe," he started to say.

"Yes?"

"I… I have a question to ask you…"

"hm?" she turned her head towards him with questioning eyes. "What is it?"

"You're keeping something from me. I have felt it all along, and still you haven't told me. And now that Ansem is defeated, you seem to be less social everyday."

That hit the spot. Xoe looked down at her toes silently. Riku just sighed, figuring that she wouldn't tell him. But to his surprise, she spoke.

"You do deserve to know… but on the other hand, I don't want you to leave me like the others did…" she said sadly.

"I promise I would never leave you," he said, then continued jokingly. "Plus, we're stuck here anyway." But she didn't laugh.

"I have kept a huge secret from you ever since I met you. I wanted to tell you, I really did, but I couldn't. I couldn't let you find out. That's why I let you hide me from everyone else. Riku…" she looked up suddenly with tears in her eyes. "Ansem was my father. I wanted him to be defeated, but I still loved him like a daughter should… but now he's gone… and I don't know how to feel."

Tears started to fall down her face. Riku was shocked, but did something he's never done before. He held her in his strong arms and rocked her back and forth.

"Xoe, it's okay… I don't mind at all, I feel odd having worked for him against my friends! You shouldn't feel bad about this." He held her by her shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "I promise I'll get you out of here and we can start a new life on destiny island. You'll love it there."

The tears stopped. "Really? It sounds so beautiful there, almost like a dream."

"The thing is, I don't really remember it all too well. I haven't been there in forever."

At that they both started laughing, but secretly in both of there minds, escape plans started to form.

(Like it? I think it's kind of odd, but whatever! R&R)


	2. Home

**Disclaimer**: I own absolutely nothing from the Kingdom Hearts games, the Final Fantasy games, or ANYTHING from Disney.

Riku had a lot of faith in Sora, but not enough to not be surprised when one day Sora just suddenly appeared in front of him. He, in fact, had been trying to escape. He had been walking around his new home ever since he got there. Well, he never actually did think of it as a home. More of a temporary establishment of living. Many times he had asked king Mickey for help, but he only said, "Keep faith in Sora. He'll come." But Xoe didn't believe that.

Xoe had not known Sora. She didn't know what Sora was capable of, and Riku wasn't sure he knew anymore either. Xoe tried her hardest everyday. Once she even past out in exhaustion. Nothing was working, but still they tried. That's really all they could do. But one day, Riku was staring at a large black boulder…

"That's odd… I never noticed this before…," he said, looking at a large smooth groove in the side. It was white inside. "Wonder what it is…" He put his hand inside, and it started to glow a dim purple light. It slowly faded from dark to light, then turned black suddenly. Riku tried to pull his hand out, but he couldn't. He heard a voice. It seemed so familiar. It said,

"_Erasing past deeds is no easy task, Riku. What has been done is still there. No matter how much you change, it will be there… Along with her…"_

The black light became lighter and lighter, then it became a light hazy gray. It stayed that way and passed through him.

"_This light is no longer pure…!"_

Then everything faded and there stood Sora, with his smug look of pride and knowing on his face. It seemed as he couldn't see for a moment, but then something came into his eyes. He saw Riku. Riku saw him. Neither moved.

Who knows how long they stood there like that, but eventually Xoe came along. She was on one side of a boulder and didn't see Sora at first, but Sora saw her and was in battle position in the blink of an eye. He could sense the darkness within her, but it wasn't in her heart, it was in her genes.

"Riku watch out!"

Xoe turned quickly. "What the…"

"Xoe, move!" Riku said jumping in between her and Sora, guarding an attack from Sora's blade. Xoe ducked down and clung on to the back of Riku's shirt.

"Who is that?" she cried.

"I would like to know the same!" said Sora.

_This will take a lot of explaining on my part. Better not mention anything about Ansem though…_

"Sora, Xoe, Calm down!" he told them. "Let's sit down."

They all sat, Xoe still next to Riku, weary of her attacker, and Sora on the opposing side of Riku, a little ways away. Riku took a deep breath.

"First off, Xoe, this is Sora. He's the one who closed the door. The secondary keeper of the keyblade…"

"Secondary?" she asked

"Yes. I was the first, but alas, my heart fell to darkness. And Sora," he said turning to his old friend. "This is Xoe." Xoe gave him a warning look, but he knew not to tell. " She is the biggest secret I have ever kept. I met her a while back, before I was completely consumed by darkness. She stayed with me and we've become friends. We want to get back to destiny island… so how did you get here?"

Sora rubbed the back of his neck and put on his 'well-I'm-not-exactly-sure-but-don't-get-mad' smile.

"You don't know?"

"Well… I was in the secret cave examining the door while it happened… Then this odd light appeared where a handle should be…"

Riku turned to the crevice in the rock. "Come on guys, follow me!"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

They weren't quite sure how they had gotten there, but they were all in the secret cave all the same. They looked around. There was Sora, King Mickey, Riku and Xoe all in the room. Xoe looked around.

"What just happened? Where the heck are we?"

"We're in the secret cave!" Riku exclaimed. He couldn't believe how long it had been since he had been there. "I can't believe that it worked!"

"It's amazing! I never thought that this door would ever lead to you!"

"Is this destiny island? It's not very pretty… and small…"

Riku and Sora exchanged a look then laughed. She really had no clue. Riku took her hand and headed towards the cave entrance. He crawled through first then pulled Xoe through. The sun was setting over the ocean and it was an amazing sight. She had never seen, or even dreamed anything like it before.

"It's beautiful…" she murmured.

"It's home… Riku replied, but still thought about the familiar voice.

(Hoorah! Second chapter. I never thought I would have fun writing this story, but hey! It's not that bad. I really DO like having reviews, so… PLEASE REVIEW ME! Thank you for your wonderful time!)


	3. A new adventure?

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING FROM KINGDOM HEARTS OR FINAL FANTASY! OR ANY OTHER VIDEO GAME, OR EVEN DISNEY! **

(A Mary Sue story? Well, I haven't really gotten to anything really exciting yet, but really? Oh fine. But I don't know if this chapter will be exciting either! I write things down as I go along. No real plan, I was just writing a random story. So, whatever you want to call it, I still like it. But I will _try_ to make it more exciting!)

_Erasing past deeds… still there… her… _

These voices often echoed in his head when he was alone. But he couldn't get alone very often. Sora and Kairi were often with him, just talking about everything. Except the adventure before… If Sora and Kairi weren't with him, Xoe was. She seemed to be scared to be alone, and Riku could understand. A new place, new people… nothing would ever be the same for her… but he hoped things would get better.

Riku sat on the tree he used to sit on all the time. Memeries flooded back from when he was younger, and more foolish… or was he? When he was younger, he would never have joined the darkness… the heartless… But now, everything was different. And then there was Xoe. Poor Xoe, to know that her own father had been the source of such evil… so much destruction, and he had taken over Riku… all to be more powerful, to cause more destruction. _It must be terrifying… _thought Riku.

He looked back at the island and he saw Xoe coming over the bridge. Her face showed that something was wrong. Her face was stained from tears, and her eyes were red from crying. Riku jumped down from the tree and hurried over to her.

"Xoe! What's wrong?" he asked.

"I can't tell do this!" Xoe exclaimed. She sat down on the edge of the island and let her feet dangle over the edge.

"Can't do what?"

"I can't sit here and pretend like nothing happened! Especially with the boy who killed my father!"

_I hadn't thought of that… how stupid can I be? _Riku thought. "Look, Xoe… he had to kill him… you know that," he said softly.

"I know, but he had no clue about me. He has no clue who I am and he still tries to befriend me like I'm a normal person… it doesn't feel right."

"Well, Xoe. Here is how I think of it. Nobody is normal, and trust me, Sora isn't even remotely normal," Riku said with a half smile that made Xoe smile a little. "He's just trying to make the best of the situation."

"What situation?" Xoe asked. "Why would you say that? Isn't this good anyway?" she gave him a small you-better-tell-me-the-truth glare. "Is there something you aren't telling me?"

_Boy, she's good… _thought Riku. "Xoe… something happened at that rock. There was a voice…"

Riku was cut off by Xoe's behavior. Her eyes became black and stared at Riku as if she could see right through him. Her mouth stayed closed, but still Riku could hear words that didn't sound like her voice… but they were oddly familiar.

"_Riku… It's time… you deeds of late are soon to catch up to you… her… save her… find the light, your light. Or nothing will be the same…" _the voice said.

"Light? What light? What do you mean? Who are you, and what have you done to Xoe!" Riku asked hurriedly.

But the voice had stopped, and Xoe's eyes went back to the normal green. More tears came down her face and she started to shake. Riku held her close to him and waited for the shaking to subside.

"It was him…" she murmured. "He's using me to get to you… Don't let him get me Riku!"

"I would never let anyone get you Xoe, but who? Who is it?"

Her eyes became wide and she whispered the name so quietly, Riku almost couldn't hear it. But he did…

"It was him… it was Ansem…"

(Well, I am particularly happy with this chapter. Give me all the bad reviews you want, or as some people like to call them 'constructive reviews', I don't care! I'm going to keep writing, but I think it's going to get better…)


	4. campfire remedies

**Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING FROM KINGDOM HEARTS OR FINAL FANTASY! OR ANY OTHER VIDEO GAME, OR EVEN DISNEY!**

(This chapter isn't very exciting, but trust me, I'll get to an exciting part as soon as I possibly can! This is just a sort of, mend for old friendships, so to say. The next chapter is the beginning of and adventure. I really need more REVIEWS PLEASE!)

That night, Riku, Sora, Kairi and Xoe all spent the night out under the stars. It was Kairi's idea, she said it would help clear their minds. Riku had told Sora and Kairi what had happened on the island. At the moment they were all huddled around a campfire on the beach. Riku looked up and saw the moon. _What was that? Was that… no it couldn't be… _he thought, seeing a black shadow cross across the moon's light. He shook his head and turned to Xoe. She was leaned against him, and seemed terribly frightened. Yet she seemed calmer then before. She was staring at all of the stars. Things were for once, just peaceful. Of course Sora had to break the peace.

"Riku, I have to say this. If you go on an adventure, I'm going too! I don't want to be split from you again. We should always be fighting side by side. Never against each other again…"

"I'm going too!" Kairi said. "I couldn't bear staying here alone again!"

Riku hardly heard her. He was still lingering on Sora's words. He remembered how he had to fight Sora. Ansem had consumed him… he was forced to fight his friend, but every stroke Ansem took with his blade… Riku had to watch. And for a while, he thought he would see his friend die… because of him. _Thankfully Xoe didn't have to see that. She would have been mortified, _thought Riku. Maybe he should let Sora come… but Kairi.

"Kairi, I want you to stay here with Xoe."

Suddenly, Xoe came alive. She turned to Riku. "I'm not staying here!" she cried. "I'm going with you!"

"But Xoe, I don't want you getting hurt! This is going to be dangerous. It's always dangerous, and you know what could happen!"

"No I don't." Xoe countered. "And neither do you." And for the first time in what seemed like days, she smiled. "Besides, I already decided this yesterday. Do you really think that I don't know how to fight?"

Riku actually hadn't thought of that. _She can fight? I didn't know that? I don't want her to go… but still…_

"Fine, you can all come if you feel like it! But if you're in a sticky situation, don't say I didn't tell you so! We leave tomorrow!" Riku said, sounding like his old self again.

"T-tomorrow?" Kairi asked.

Riku glared at her. "I want to get this over with as soon as possible…"

"I mean… Tomorrow! Great!" Kairi said with a fake smile, and a giggle.

"Well, if we're going tomorrow, let's get some sleep!" Sora said, collapsing in the sand.

_For once, a smart plan, _thought Riku with a wry smile.

Riku was the first to wake; or rather he thought he was. The sun was just rising and he sat up slowy, rubbing his eyes. When he regained full sight, he saw that Kairi was gone. _I guess she's just packing, _thought Riku. But all the same, he got up and went to look for her. He looked around quite a bit, but finally found her on the small island. She sat on the farthest edge watching the sun rise.

When she saw Riku, she smiled and waved him over. That was when he realized that he hadn't been alone with Kairi since BEFORE the whole adventure started who knows how many years ago. He suddenly felt nervous. Yes, he had liked Kairi a lot before… but now, he only liked her as a friend. _Well, I can't do anything about that now, _he thought as he sat next to Kairi. And of course, Kairi's first words were, "I missed you…"

_What should I say? _Riku thought frantically. "I missed you too."

Kairi smiled. "She's nice."

Riku looked at her, and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Xoe, she's nice. I bet she's a good friend."

"You can be friends with her too you know. I think that she would like that."

Kairi smiled. "Really, I mean no offense to you, but I don't have very many friends that are girls…" she giggled "…I think I would like to be her friend."

Suddenly Kairi stood up. "Don't loose her," she said.

"What do you mean?" asked Riku.

"She likes you, Riku. Don't leave her."

He thought he saw a tear run down her cheek, but she had left before he could tell. At first he didn't understand it, but then he got it completely. _Don't leave her, just like I left you, _he thought. _Thanks Kairi. What would I do without you? _

(Wow, almost made myself cry! Just kidding. It is sort of sentimental though. I think if I don't get to some action soon, people will be very ANGRY with me. Don't you think. Well if you do, TELL ME IN A REVIEW! PLEASE? (Yes I sound desperate, but I really want reviews!))


	5. What's up with Kairi?

Riku was amazed when he saw the gummi ship underneath the bushes. Sora said that it was a present from Donald and Goofy. But he was more amazed to see Kairi driving the ship. Sora taught her incase of an emergency, and she picked up on it right away. They took off into the sky, but really weren't sure what route they would take. They decided on Traverse Town.

Xoe, Riku and Sora sat in the back of the Gummi ship. After a while, Riku noticed Xoe shift in slight discomfort, then he noticed Sora staring at her.

"Hey Sora, do you mind?" Riku asked.

Sora shook his head. "Oh, what?"

"You don't have to stare at her…"

"Sorry, but it's like I've seen her before," Sora replied. "But I can't place where."

"I think I know," Xoe spoke up shyly. "It was about 2 and a half years ago…"

flashback

_Xoe walked casually into the third district from the first. She sighed and headed towards the fountain… things were pretty boring. _

_Halfway to the fountain, there was a distortion in the air. A heartless appeared. No problem, she took out a weapon she created herself. It was a steal circle, nine inches in diameter, and it had three thirteen inch serrated blades evenly spaced around the edge. There was a handle in the center of the circle. Carved into it was a dragon breathing fire, and black roses creeping around the blades. _

_She quickly defeated the foe in one swift movement, but then four more appeared. She vanquished two, and five more came. Again and again until there were about 20 surrounding her next to the fountain. That's when she was hit. Three times in the leg, then one deep slice in her shoulder. She fell to her knees and cried out in pain. _

_"Go away!" she cried. Three actually obeyed her and fled in terror. "Help!"_

End flashback

"And that's where I first met Riku," Xoe said.

"Yeah, I saved you from all of those heartless, then I heard someone coming, so I took you and hid behind the wall. It turned out to be Sora, he must of seen your face when you looked to see who I was talking to," Riku added.

"Riku, why did you leave then?" Sora blurted out before he could stop himself. Riku looked at the floor, obviously ashamed of himself.

"I…I was jealous. I thought you didn't want to be my friend anymore… I thought that you no longer cared about Kairi and I. Plus, I needed to make sure that Xoe was alright with all of the bloodloss. And…"

"And what?"

"Maleficent," Xoe said. A silence fell after that. Riku felt horrible that he had followed the witch… he somehow felt hollow now that his friends mentioned it. It seemed to set him apart from everyone else.

_'Now you now how she feels…'_ a voice said in his mind. It wasn't him thinking, he looked up startled. Then he felt something touch his hand. He looked down to see Xoe's fingers brushing his hand, somewhat deliberately. He wrapped his hand around hers, and watched a smile spread across her face. _I guess I do know how she feels…_ he thought.

They landed on traverse town, and came out in the first district. It was sort of like one of those movies you watch when they go into a deserted town and you see a tumble weed go by, there was nobody there. It was sort of gray, and the stars didn't shine so brightly. Everything was dark… The three slowly made their way through the first district, then they made it to the second one. They came through the doors and found that nobody was there either. Suddenly, 5 heartless appeared.

"Heartless!" they all cried out simultaneously.

"But how?" asked Sora. "I vanquished them!"

"Aparently not," said Riku, taking out his weapon. Xoe and Sora followed suit and were soon fighting the heartless. Kairi, who had no weapon just avoided the fighting. She heard something from behind her and quickly turned around. All she saw was a dark flash, then she found herself in a dark place. All black, and nothing else. It was like she was standing on nothing at all, but she wasn't falling. Or she could be falling, but she would never realize it. A voice came to her ears.

_'Kairi… the daughter of darkness is about you… you will bring Xoe to me… bring her to me… in Luca!'_

"No!" Kairi shouted. "I would never hurt Xoe!"

_'Oh, but she would you…Kairi… You will bring her to me in Luca… you have no choice!' _

Maniacal laughter sounded about the hollow space. Kairi thought she screamed, but then she woke up on the ground of the second district with Xoe, Riku and Sora looking down at her.

"Are you okay?" asked Xoe. She handed Kairi a knife. "You'll need this next time. That heartless almost got you."

"Xoe I…" Kairi started, but she decided not to tell her fellow comrades about her dream. "Nevermind."

"Let's get to the Inn. I don't think that they've reached there yet."

The four headed in the direction of the Inn, and Kairi couldn't shake the voice from her head. _Xoe would never hurt me… would she?_

(That's all folks. For this chapter anyway. Next chapter coming soon, I hope at least…)


	6. S! one bed

They found that the hotel was the only safe place in all of traverse town at the moment. Even Merlin had to stay there… There were two rooms left. Some people had left to another safe hold they had created in a house in the first district. All the people they saw were terrified that the heartless were back, and some inquired if Sora was back to save them all again. Sora could only shake his head and tell them that he didn't know.

The first room was furnished in royal blue. It was lovely and had some furniture and a table scattered about the room. Next to the bed was a lamp and there were some pictures, mostly of water, on the walls.

"Kairi and I claim this one!" Sora exclaimed, jumping onto the bed.

"Alright, take it easy," said Riku. "Xoe and I don't really care what room we get. Right Xoe?" he asked, and turned to her. Xoe nodded.

"Not a problem."

"Okay," smiled Kairi. "See you in the morning."

Riku and Xoe said their goodnights, then headed through the door that led to the next room. It was just like Sora and Kairi's, but it was crimson instead of blue. Riku looked around. There was a table by him with two chairs, a painting on the wall of a tree with red leaves, a window with thick red curtains and…

"Oh shi…"

"What?" asked Xoe.

"There's only one bed."

Xoe turned to face the bed so her back was to Riku, secretly hoping that he couldn't see her blush. Riku was blushing a bit too, and was glad she wasn't looking. _This is a dilemma… _he thought. Xoe turned back around, and their eyes met. She quickly cast her glance to the ground, blushing once more.

"Well, why don't I just… I can sleep on the floor, or I could bring Kairi in here… or something…"

"Riku…"

"Yeah, I'll just go ask for an extra pillow, and blanket at the front desk…"

"Riku."

"Here, why don't you just get settled…"

"Riku!" Xoe said, looking at him sternly. He returned the stare with equal intensity. "Riku… how long were we together in kingdom hearts?"

"Three years."

"And how long before that?"

"About… a few months… But it seemed like much longer."

"Riku. We can sleep in the same bed. Three years is a long time."

"But we're just friends…" _but are we?_ Thought Riku, not knowing that Xoe was thinking along the same lines.

"It really isn't a big deal, it's just us. Sleeping in the same bed. Together."

"You see how that sounds?"

"I didn't say sleeping and together in the same sentence," Xoe said jokingly with a smile.

Riku sighed. "Xoe, I've known you for so long. I don't want anything to happen."

"To happen, or to change?"

Xoe raised her left eyebrow in question. _Xoe's right. We've known each other too long to let this come between us. Even if something did happen, we'd still be friends. Wait. Why do I think something's going to happen! _Riku thought. He rubbed his temple and started to pace across the room. Xoe sighed and sat on the bed.

"The bed's big enough for both of us, you're worrying to much. It makes me wonder, Riku, if you're worried that you might do something…"

"Xoe, don't be foolish. I wo- Xoe! What are you doing!" Riku asked. Xoe was taking off her black shirt, revealing a scarlet undergarment with roses on it. (Yeah, a little sketchy with the 'roses', but she IS Ansem's daughter…)

She laughed a little. "I'm not going to sleep in my shirt!"

He avoided looking at her. _She's really… beautiful._

She started taking off her leather shorts, revealing another matching undergarment. Riku's eyes slowly moved toward her. She looked up, and laughed.

"Riku! Don't act so childish!" She moved to the side of the bed that was against the wall and crept under the covers. "Now get undressed and come into bed!"

"That still doesn't sound right…" Riku said with a smile, than took off his shirt, then his pants leaving his silver boxers. He noticed Xoe looking at him, and blushed.

"You don't have to stare."

She didn't move her gaze. "You stared at me."

He smirked and looked at her. He came around and laid down on his side of the large bed. "Yeah. Maybe a little bit. But your…"

"…I'm what?"

"You are… beautiful. And amazing…." He crept slightly towards her. She didn't back off.

"Oh really?"

He smiled. _What the hell am I doing? Why can't I stop? Am I still going towards her… she isn't… backing away. Is she reaching towards me?_

Indeed she was. Her hand softly landed on the base of Riku's neck. He felt it move across to his shoulder. Then fall down his chest to the bed causing him to shiver. He wanted feel the rest of her next to him, he wanted to move across the bed to her. There were so many things that he wanted to do, but he couldn't get himself up to do it.

Xoe on the other hand, was slowly dragging herself to him. When she was close enough, Riku shakily raised his hand, and gently wrapped his arm around her. She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips, then pulled away. They stared at eachother for a while.

"We should get some sleep," Xoe whispered.

"Then you shouldn't have kissed me."

He came in, and brought her closer with his strong arm wrapped around her shoulders. Their lips met, but neither pulled back.

Later, who knows how long, a scream sounded in the night near the third district. Xoe pulled back in fright. Something inside of her dropped, and she knew that person died. Riku could just tell from her eyes… Xoe wrapped her arms around Riku and pressed her face into his chest, and they lay clinging to eachother for the rest of the night, Riku protecting her from anything to come.

(Yeah, well if you don't like the romance, sorry! The next chapter they go to… guess where? Luca! (I DON'T OWN IT!) and things with get exciting!)


End file.
